Introduction To Social Psychology

Social psychology approaches the way our behaviour is influence be the presence, attitudes and actions of other people, whether it be an individual, a group or a culture.

Social psychology is based on two main assumptions:

Our behaviour is influenced by individuals, groups and situations; the people around us and the situations we find ourselves in govern the type of behaviour we display.

Our behaviour is influenced by the culture and society in which we live as they effect the type of norms and values that determine the type of behaviour that we deem acceptable.

Social psychology became prominent in the 50s to try and find an explanation to the horrid behaviour that was shown by so many during WWII. However, it was around before then. Norman Triplett is often seen as the founder of social psychology (although it was not known as that in his time) because of a study he did in 1898. Triplett asked people…